Fever
by Phantress
Summary: Bella is feeling a little under the weather... Pure, G-rated fluff! Please review!


**This is my first time to write anything **_**Twlight**_**-ish… I've read a few things on here in that genre, but there are just so many, so I hope this isn't too typical. It's absolute fluff of course. **

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this… all rights and credit goes to Stephanie Meyer. Ridiculous to have to even write that. I mean, come on… if I owned Edward, do you think I'd be writing about him and **_**Bella**_**? **

**Please review – I'd love any type of feedback. **

"Good night, Bells!" called Charlie.

"Night," I mumbled, heading towards the stairs.

It had been a bright, beautiful and rare day in Forks. However, it might as well have been just as rainy and gray as ever, as I had stayed home thanks to waking up with the flu. Not that I minded being absent from school this particular Friday, I figured Edward and his family would be missing from school as they always were when sunny weather graced Washington. However, I can not say that I enjoyed the fever and throbbing headache that accompanied it.

Charlie had done his best to try and make me feel better. He came home earlier from work than he normally did and made me what he claimed was chicken soup, though that's not exactly what it looked or smelled like. I politely declined, claiming that I just did not feel hungry, which was mostly true. I left Charlie watching ESPN, turning in at an abnormal 7:30 pm at night.

Walking up the stairs, I specifically thought to myself how much I hoped Edward was not in my room, or at least not yet… maybe I should take a shower before he gets here. Even though I knew I could never compare to his godlike appearance, I did not exactly want him to see me as Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and with a greasy, messy ponytail. My headache did not help with my typical lack of balance; I dragged my hand along the wall, using it as a brace as I headed towards my bedroom door. Turning the doorknob, I reconsidered the whole shower taking thing as I had absolutely no energy.

"Bella," I heard a charming, velvet voice call, tinged with a reprehending tone, as I closed the door.

Of course I recognized the voice. Edward.

"I had hoped to find you in bed, asleep. Alice told me you were sick," he rose from where he had been sitting on the rocking chair, putting his hand underneath my elbow and guiding me towards my bed that was still in the same disarray I had left it in.

"Well, you caught me," I sighed, deciding against brushing my teeth. Too much effort. I started to knock the used and abandoned Kleenexes off my bed and onto the floor, not caring. Climbing into bed, I ignored the twisted sheets and pulled the quilt up to my nose.

After discarding the used tissues in the trashcan were they belonged – a job I was not looking forward to having to do the next morning – Edward sat on the edge of my bed.

I smiled. "Thanks."

Wrenching the covers off my head, he placed a stone cold hand on my face, the contrast made me wince at first.

"You're burning up," his angelic voice sounded concerned. He pulled his hand away.

"No," I whined, half asleep, "leave it there."

Realizing that I found his freezing hands to be a comfort, he placed both of his thumbs at the base of my neck, pressing his hands on the sides of my cheeks and occasionally alternated between there and my forehead and eyelids.

"Will you stay tonight?"

I opened my eyes to see my favorite, crooked smile. He turned me on my side to face the wall, as he slid next to me, continuing to use his hands to serve as a cold compress.

"Bella," he whispered in my ear. "I will always stay, if you ask me to. Now you should try to sleep."

"If you insist," I sighed sarcastically, but truthfully already feeling my mind drift away.

Edward moved his hands again, away from my cheeks and prodded my eyelids lightly with the pads of his icy fingertips.

"That feels perfect," I whispered, before succumbing to his wish.

The worst part of having a fever is the dreams that come with it.

It was bright outside, and I felt winded like I had just run a marathon, putting a hand to my face I realized that I was out of breath because I was crying. Stopping suddenly, I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was in the meadow – Edward and mine's meadow – yet it did not look as it normally did to me, though I realized nothing about it had changed.

Turning, I saw the Cullens. They did not glitter in the sunlight as I knew they should. How strange it was for them all just to be standing, they almost could have passed for human. I was so happy to see them in my inexplicable fright, relieved, I began walking towards them.

To my horror, Alice held her hand up to stop me, her eyes sad but firm. Confused, I looked past her and towards Esme. She had her armed looped into the crook of Carlisle's, but was doing her best to look away from me. He, however, looked right at me, his beautiful and eternally youthful face serious. Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie stood together, their faces blurry to me because they were farther away. Squinting, I tried to better interpret their expressions but couldn't.

Beginning to panic I realized… who was missing?

I felt myself start to shake, I tried to back away from the strange force but it only continued to shake me.

"Wake up!" a voice commanded me.

I continued to search for the missing Cullen when they _all_ began to dissapear from my line of sight. I stretched out my arms, searching. Invisible, cold handcuffs encircled my wrists and brought them down to my side.

"Wake up, Bella," begged the voice again, "you're dreaming."

I opened my eyes. The gleaming meadow disappeared, and was replaced with the darkness of my bedroom. My cold handcuffs were the iron strength of Edward's fingers. Sitting up, I surveyed my surroundings. Looking down, I saw that the quilt seemed to have been pushed down a long time ago and was now halfway on the floor. A pair of golden eyes were now in my face and a cold brick pushed me, lying me back down.

"I was dreaming," I stated stupidly.

"Yes," Edward said calmly, taking his hands from my wrists and pushing back the escaped hair from my ponytail. "Yes, you were dreaming."

"I was so frightened."

"You were crying," said Edward, monotonously.

"Mmm," I acknowledged, pressing my forehead harder against his cement chest, reveling in the cold pressure.

I was very still for a while, I could hear no other noise besides my own congested breathing. Just before I felt myself fall back asleep, I spoke more loudly than I meant to.

"I'm hold, sleepy me," I garbled.

"Okay, Bella," Edward laughed, turning me as he did when I first came to bed so my back was against him. Reaching down, he pulled the quilt back up to my neck, but as I recoiled he resigned to leaving it at my elbow. Wrapping his cold arms around my clammy shoulders, he whispered into my ear with a smile evident in his tone, "I'm sleepying you."

"Thanks," was all I could say, before succumbing back to exhaustion.


End file.
